Sunday, February 12, 2017

Helmet Stink

In the process of cleaning all of my motorcycle gear for our pending New Zealand tour, I grabbed out my helmet which is usually stored on a shelf with all my other clothes. It needed a clean as it was smothered in bugs, I'm sure that Shoei was spelt with an I. Yes there were quite a few of the little critters stuck to it.

I usually clean the outer surface of my helmet with a bucket of warm water and a chux wipe and some good old fashioned elbow grease. After about 10 minutes the helmet came up looking pretty good.

I took a close look inside and my nostrils were assaulted with the stench of months years of old sweat. Erg god the humanity, the stench was nearly unbearable I thought to myself, no point in having all this nice clean gear if I vomit on it every time I put my helmet on. So it was out with the Shoei manual that came with the helmet to see how to pull all of the cheek pads and inner linings out.

What's the worst that could happen? Maybe I couldn't put them back in again and would have to purchase a new helmet. I can live with that, I'm prepared to take that risk.

To my surprise the cheek pads and inner lining came out really easily, I wonder why I'd never done this before now. To my complete surprise and horror the inside of the helmet was absolutely filthy, not just sweat but there was dirt, dust and a whole platoon of dead insects inside. I've only had this helmet for 3 years as well. God  knows what would have been inside the lining of my last helmet as it was 8 or 9 years old.



Left: Bugs galore.






Right: Dirt, dust, debris and bugs.









I decided on following the manual and just hand wash them in warm water. I also added a dash of liquid detergent that I normally use in the washing machine, I figured it couldn't hurt if we use it for our clothes it should be fine for the cheek pads. After hand washing for 5minutes and a 15 minute soak, it was out onto the line in the shed to drip dry.



Back in the house I got the visor and cleaned it. I've been having a few problems of late with the visor. No matter how I clean it, it always has a hazy looking streak across the visor that I haven't been able to get rid of. That is until now. I bought myself some Plexus plastic cleaner and gave that a go. What a difference that made. The visor is completely clear again, no haze and some of the scratches are barely noticeable. Its look as clean as the day I bought it. This plexus stuff is pretty good even though it bloody expensive.


11 comments:

  1. Were you surprised at how dirty the water was when hand washing the linings? Hubby usually comments about that when he washes his.

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    1. Yeah the water that I washed them out in came out very dirty at the end. Surprising really how dirty your melon gets.

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  2. Good stuff - the NZ Quarantine Service won't give you the rubber glove treatment now ;-) .

    My helmet is 5 years old and had imperceptibly loosened up as the foam compressed. I actually bought new pads for it late last year through eBay and it felt like a new helmet again. They were as cheap as chips from the US and they come in a range of thicknesses to get the perfect fit. When I get a new helmet, I'll probably replace them every 1-2 years from then on.

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    1. I've noticed the cheek pads on this helmet are not as tight as they used to be. Might have to look and see how much a new liner is

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  3. Put some Rain X on it for yoyr trip to the Land of the Long White Rain Cloud. It is like magic.

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    1. Ah no I'm not buying anymore crap right now. You should know how good plexus is you being a pilot and all, isn't that what they put on airplane windows to clean them.

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    2. That's what I normally use Dave. Not only good for rain but stops the bugs sticking too! However, I have some Plexus on order as I've found a relatively cheap source so I can compare it with Rain X

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  4. Steve, my Shoei Neotec liners got washed a few times (wool wash and gentle in the washing machine) but eventually the comfort liner just felt compressed, so then I bought a new liner. Feels great, however, the catch with the new liner is that it doesn't have the Aust Standards patch sewn into it. It probably doesn't matter, but I have had my helmet compliance sticker checked (& Dorothy's) once by a highway patrol cop. Plexus is out of my price range, I use a knock off called VuPlex at half the price (sold in bike shops but cheaper at Bunnings as venetian blind cleaner!

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    1. Yeah I'm hearing you on the price of the plexus, I nearly fainted.

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  5. Yuck, cooties! Yeah, get that sorted out eh, MAF will boot you outta the country, you're a danger to our environment!







    BTW: the vents on my HJC "vent" bug directly into my hair at times...

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